Origin (31 page)

Ayron woke abruptly from a deep sleep to the sounds of cheering Amarani and the noise of blowing horns. Hodari’s troops were announcing their return to Amarni. As Ayron shook off his sleepiness, he took in the sight of people running from their huts, and workplaces to welcome home their chief and his soldiers. It was a wonderful sight that warmed his heart every time he visited Amarni. Within minutes, they were all given a hearty meal and taken to huts with warm comfortable sleeping pads. They were also shown some smaller huts where they could bathe in warm water that had been piped in from hot springs located below the surface of a rock formation just outside the village. Ayron went with Hodari to his home and greeted Hodari’s wife Zuri, his daughter Moya, and his son Kubwa. He shared the latest news from Silvendil with both Zuri and Hodari and spent some time discussing their herd of morden with him. Hodari said that he would get his companion healer dawa mwaname to see if he could shed some light about the unwillingness of the herd in Silvendil to select a new head mare. Barely able to keep his eyes open, Ayron excused himself and left their home to do two more things before giving in to the sleep that threatened to overtake him. First he went to check on Clayre and Rhys. He found Galdor bathing Rhys, and was told that Clayre was out at the bathing hut to freshen herself. After that, they all planned to rest for a time. Ayron then went to check on his soldiers. The only survivors of this mission besides himself and Galdor were Alea, Stuart, Mintas, Briten, and Kormir. Ayron wanted to make sure that they were comfortable and getting some much needed rest. Much to his chagrin, he found them all bathed and sleeping soundly. Ayron literally dragged himself to the hut that had been assigned to him. Without taking notice of the interior, he spotted a sleeping mat, lay down, and promptly fell asleep.

E
lwyn woke slowly from a deep and dreamless sleep. She was aware of two things as she lay on her bed pad trying to muster up the strength to get up. The first one was that she was still alone. She felt sure that, had Ayron arrived during the night, he would have awakened her. The second one was that the day was overcast. She could smell the threat of a storm in the heavy air and there was no sun beaming down through the smoke hole in the roof of the hut. All she could see was a dark gray cloud cover peering through the small hole that almost matched the color of the ring that circled its edge. Elwyn got up and quickly put some wood on the small fire to bring some warmth to the chilly air that crept in during the night. She then went over to see Keroc, greeted him cheerfully and gave him some water. Keroc nodded his head at her in response and blinked his eyes as if to say good morning. Since Kierra impressed upon her that it was important to try to keep Keroc as warm as possible, she moved him a bit closer to the small fire. Then Elwyn put on her cloak and went out to check on Gemma and Raffe.

There was a light rain falling as she walked through the village into the small meadow where the morden were grazing. They both had their heads down eating as she approached. Elwyn was very happy to see that both Gemma and Raffe raised their heads and nickered at her in greeting. She told them all about Keroc’s progress, her disappointment that Ayron had not yet arrived, and her dilemma about moving on alone. Elwyn felt that the morden were definitely against the idea of moving on until Ayron arrived. The problem in Elwyn’s mind was just how long she should wait. What if Ayron had been wounded, or even killed, trying to get her uncle and Clayre to safety? She was also worried about how long they would be safe here. There was something about this village that kept her on edge and it bothered her not to know why that was so. She was also bothered by the lack of contact from Kierra. She could tell by the way they snorted and shook their heads that Gemma and Raffe felt the same. By the time Elwyn finished speaking to the morden, the rain was coming down much harder, and didn’t look as if it was going to let up anytime soon.

When Elwyn returned to the hut, she was soaked and had to change into dry clothing. She put some water on for tea and started heating the left over stew in a small pan. She knew that Keroc needed as much nourishment as she could feed him and that the rich stew would be good for them both. She also kneaded some dough for bread and put it on the warm rocks surrounding the fire to rise. While she was waiting for the stew to cook and the bread to rise, she settled down to drink a mug of tea and read some more of her mother’s diary.

The next several pages of the diary were a bit stained. To Elwyn, it looked as if tears had fallen on some of the pages. The entries began with Rhianna describing an evening about six weeks before her due date, when Azavon arrived at their suite extremely upset. Rhianna knew that they had been having problems along the border that they shared with Grimsfyne, a land to the north. Azavon shared with her that the dwarven king of Grimsfyne insisted that he, as ruler of Silvendil, come himself to negotiate a peace treaty with him. It was a matter of pride to the dwarves that the rulers of both lands meet as equals to negotiate and commit to the terms of the peace. Rhianna wrote that Azavon was heart sick to leave her so close to the time their baby was due, but felt that he had been given no choice in the matter. The council had voted and it was decided it would be best for him to go. And, as the ruler of his country, he also knew it was his responsibility to go. Rhianna described how she and Azavon spent their last night together laughing, eating their favorite finger foods, and lying curled up close together with both of them resting a hand on Rhianna’s pregnant tummy. Rhianna had written a separate page in her diary where she described the event and her feelings the next day as Azavon left for Grimsfyne. She wrote that he promised he would return home before she gave birth so that they could experience bringing the new life they created into the world together. Rhianna’s tears smeared the words on the paper as she described how she stood there and watched Azavon and Ayron, so handsome in their formal attire, ride off together until she could see them no more. But she also wrote that inside she was afraid and heartsick as she watched two of the three people that she knew cared for her and that she trusted ride away at a time when she felt so vulnerable.

Rhianna later wrote that when she explained how she was feeling to Lilith later that morning her young assistant offered to stay with her in the evenings while Azavon was away. Rhianna added that Lilith shared with her that she was very excited to get an opportunity to sleep on the piles of cushions that overlooked the morden meadow. She had hopes of being chosen at some point, like Gemma chose Rhianna, but until then, was happy to just watch the beautiful creatures. Rhianna wrote in her diary that she happily accepted Lilith’s offer because she didn’t feel safe with Azavon and Ayron both gone from Findara. In another entry, Rhianna wrote how puzzled she was at the attitude of the people that lived and worked in the castle. She’d always thought that she was a friendly outgoing person and it seemed strange to her that most of the people that lived in the castle rarely, if ever, spoke a word to her. Even when she sat in on council sessions, only one or two of the members would even acknowledge her presence. No one, with the exception of Alysan, had ever been rude to her face; it was almost as if they looked right through her as if she wasn‘t there.

The day after Azavon left, Rhianna wrote that she began to feel ill. She seemed to get sick to her stomach whenever she ate. She expressed her concern for the health of her baby to Lilith, who brought her some broth and herbal tea that seemed to sooth her. Rhianna wrote that as her illness continued, she was forced to keep to her rooms and have her meals brought to her by the kitchen staff. She also wrote that it seemed strange to her that every time she ate a meal, she would become sicker and how after a few days of this, she began throwing up constantly. The only thing that she seemed able to tolerate was the broth and the tea that Lilith made and brought to her.

The next entry in the diary was a few days later when Rhianna wrote about getting a visit from her mother-in-law one afternoon. Apparently she’d heard that Rhianna had been taken ill and came to check on her. Lady Azriel was shocked by how much weight Rhianna lost in such a short time and called Malac the healer to see if he could discover what was wrong and give her something to help her feel better. Malac’s diagnosis was that she was just suffering from depression because her husband was away while she was in such a delicate condition. When Rhianna tried to argue and explain her theory that the food was making her sick, she was hushed and told to listen to the healer and to rest. Malac left some herbs for her to add to her tea that he said would help with the nausea and help her to sleep. Rhianna knew it was more than just depression because she missed Azavon, but the only person she could find to agree with her was Lilith.

Rhianna’s next entry was a weak scrawl that was difficult for Elwyn to read. Rhianna wrote that she’d decided not to take the herbs the healer left for her and to limit her food intake to only what Lilith made and brought to her. She felt unhappy that Malac wouldn’t listen to her, and knew that approaching her mother-in-law wouldn’t help either. Lady Azriel set great stock in whatever Malac had to say. If she were to explain that she thought someone might be poisoning her food, she was afraid they would think her crazy and lock her away.

Next, Rhianna wrote that she was very disturbed when Lilith said she overheard some of the staff talking about the fact that Lord Azavon’s wife was seriously ill and might die. Both Rhianna and Lilith were puzzled by this rumor, so Lilith offered to do some snooping for Rhianna to see if she could discover the source. Lilith also asked Rhianna not to eat anything prepared for her by the staff and would go to the kitchen late at night when no one was around and make her food for the next day’s meals. For the next several days, Rhianna wrote that she ate only the food Lilith brought her and that she began to feel better and stronger. She and Lilith discussed who in the castle disliked her enough to want to sicken her and put her unborn baby in jeopardy. And, try as she might, Lilith was unable to find out any more information, other than the fact that the staff thought that Rhianna’s life might be in jeopardy because she was so heartsick at Lord Azavon’s absence.

A few days later Rhianna described how Lilith arrived at her suite one evenfall pale, shaking, and with tears rolling down her cheeks. Rhianna wrote that it took her almost an hour to calm Lilith down enough to get her to talk about what upset her. Lilith described how she was standing outside the council chambers and overheard a conversation about the human women and her unwanted offspring. They were saying that Rhianna would not be around much longer. Lilith said that she was now sure that someone was trying to poison Rhianna and feared that, if the poison didn’t work, they would try more drastic measures. Lilith also believed that whoever was behind this plot wanted it done while Lord Azavon was away. Rhianna wrote she was actually feeling a lot stronger now that she was eating only the food prepared and brought to her by Lilith. She was very troubled by the rumors though and felt extremely unsafe, even in her own suite of rooms. She tried not to panic and prayed that Azavon and Ayron would arrive home so that she could discuss her fears.

That evening after Lilith was asleep, Rhianna wrote how shocked she was to discover that she had enemies in the castle, other than Alysan. She also added that it was hard to imagine that any of them would actually do her harm, or even worse, want her dead. Rhianna wrote that the next day she talked with Lilith trying to put all the pieces of information they had together. Unfortunately neither one of them had enough facts to figure out who was even involved, and certainly not who was behind the attack on her life. Rhianna ended the day’s entry by writing that she told Lilith to spend her days listening to what was being said outside her suite, and then they would talk at evenfall when Lilith came to stay for the night. Rhianna made another short entry stating she planned to continue to keep to her rooms, working on regaining her strength. She added that she also didn’t want the person who was trying to poison her to know she was wise to what was going on. She continued to accept meals graciously from the kitchen staff, but threw the food outside so that the trays were empty when the staff came to retrieve them.

Rhianna wrote a short entry describing how, a few days later, Lilith arrived for the evening in tears and shaking with fear again. Apparently, there were additional rumors about the state of Rhianna’s health and emotions. Lilith said she overheard a few of the kitchen staff say Rhianna might not live to greet her husband upon his return and that no one, even her own physician, knew what to do to help her. The staff also said they heard she was so depressed about her husband being gone that she didn’t want to live. There was speculation that if she died soon, her baby would also die with her. It was obvious to Rhianna that someone was setting the scene so if she died at their hands, it would be excused in some way. It also sounded from the rumors, that her death might be imminent. Both the women felt that whoever was behind this plot was tired of waiting for her to die of poison and was preparing to take further action against her. It also occurred to Rhianna that her enemies not only wanted her dead, but her unborn child and future heir to the throne of Silvendil as well.

Rhianna wrote she knew it was important to act immediately if she wanted to save her life and that of little El. She asked Lilith to gather some food from the kitchen that would keep well on a long journey. She then got one of Azavon’s maps that showed where Unity, and more specifically Tarlon, was located. She took a large pack and filled it with some clothing, an extra pair of shoes, her diary, and food brought by Lilith. She then had Lilith go to where the military gear was stored and get her a bed pad, a waterskin, and a dagger. Very late that night, Rhianna and Lilith left her suite and went quietly out to the meadow. Rhianna called Gemma, saddled her and tied on all of the extra gear. She then turned to Lilith with tears in her eyes, told her that she would miss her, and told her to take care of herself. She bid her not speak of her disappearance to anyone. Rhianna also advised Lilith to get away from the castle for a while since she would probably be questioned about her disappearance. Lastly, she asked Lilith to seek Ayron out upon his return and tell him what happened. Rhianna wrote that to ask Lilith to try to get to Azavon would be too dangerous and might also make her a target for assassination. A sobbing Lilith agreed to what she asked. Rhianna, with tears in her eyes and a heart that felt as if it was breaking, rode for Tarlon to find her brother Rhys.